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It's all in the background

Darren Gray

I’m not going to say who was involved, but I’ve had plenty of them with parliamentarians over the years. ‘‘Background’’ discussions that is – on political events, issues, policies, internal party infighting and preselection tussles – briefings designed to inform my understanding of important political circumstances and developments. They came from senior MPs right near the top of government, they came from shadow cabinet ministers, and they came from MPs who were either on the way up or wanted to be. Of course they came from MPs on both sides of politics. Sometimes they came from a lone MP, but sometimes the MP was not alone. Sometimes we were sitting in a restaurant having lunch or dinner, in a cafe having a coffee, in the parliamentarian’s office, or perhaps just speaking on the phone. In my time covering politics they helped me write all types of articles. Background briefings from parliamentarians, not to mention from people active in a political party who are not MPs, are not unusual events. They happen and they happen regularly. They happen in the state parliamentary offices of Victorian MPs, in the large offices enjoyed by federal MPs in Parliament House, Canberra, and in the eating establishments nearby both seats of government. And although I’ve never reported on politics in other state capitals, I’d confidently bet a month’s pay packet that they happen in those jurisdictions too. As a reporter, the fact that I received background briefings did not make me unique. I’m sure reporters covering politics for rival newspapers also received them, and I’m sure they still do. It must be remembered, sometimes politicians will only speak their mind about particular events to a reporter when it is a ‘‘background’’ conversation. Don’t be naive and think politicians on the same side of politics automatically like each other and all get along. They most certainly do not. Some important issues only get fully ventilated because sometimes, politicians speak on background to reporters. Which brings me to the leaked recordings of a conversation between a Fairfax reporter and former premier Ted Baillieu, a politician whom I dealt with as a politics reporter and who clearly was from a different mould to most MPs. He was quieter than many, not as ruthless as many, and yet he ended up in the job that all very ambitious Victorian MPs want - that of Premier. In releasing this recording of a conversation between Mr Baillieu and Sunday Age journalist Farrah Tomazin, someone (or more likely some people) has gone to an enormous amount of effort. The recording has been widely distributed via email to sitting MPs, and a lengthy transcript has even been produced. In the process, those who released the tape have skewered Mr Baillieu and inflicted serious damage on the Liberal Party – which faces a state election in just five months and has a wafer-thin majority. The release of the recording and associated email has also sought to damage two respected Fairfax political reporters, Ms Tomazin and Josh Gordon, respected members of the state parliamentary press gallery. So what’s at play here? Who did it? They are hard questions to answer, and they probably pose even more questions again. Questions like these; Why did Ms Tomazin’s dictaphone get stolen; why did the email make outrageous and wrong claims about the behaviour of Mr Gordon; and why are some people still keen to damage Mr Baillieu so long after he departed? While those questions are not likely to be answered soon, if at all, what we do know is that it is not the first time a leaked tape recording has been used to destabilise Ted Baillieu. In March 2013, the release of secret recordings of conversations between Liberal heavyweight Tony Nutt, Liberal Party state director Damien Mantach and former ministerial adviser Tristan Weston led to Mr Baillieu’s downfall. Despite the fact Mr Baillieu is long gone from the Premier’s office and will never return there, someone extremely close to Spring Street remains intent on causing the former premier maximum damage. * Darren Gray was the State Politics Editor for The Age from 2003-2005. From 1999-2003 he worked for The Age in the federal parliamentary press gallery.